E-Paper
Use of virtual numbers: Police register FIR to tighten the noose on gangster-terrorist nexus in Punjab
The state special operation cell of Punjab Police has begun a thorough investigation to “tighten the noose” on alleged gangster-terrorist nexus, which is actively using virtual numbers for targeted and contract killings and smuggling of drugs, arms, ammunition and explosives from across the border.
AMRITSAR
The state special operation cell (SSOC) of Punjab Police has begun a thorough investigation to “tighten the noose” on alleged gangster-terrorist nexus, which is actively using virtual numbers for targeted and contract killings and smuggling of drugs, arms, ammunition and explosives from across the border.
The police believe that members of the gangster-terrorist syndicate have been generating virtual numbers by using various platforms available on the public domain on internet by using their fake identification and with the help of their foreign-based associates to dodge the police.
A virtual phone number provides you with the opportunity to communicate with anyone in the world at any time, using almost any internet-connected device. Virtual phone numbers offer flexible communication options and a layer of privacy.
A senior SSOC official, who didn’t wished to be named, said on Sunday that they have begun a thorough probe by registering a case under Sections 489-A, B and C (tampering with property mark with intent to cause injury) and 120 and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and various sections of the NDPS Act, Arms Act, the Explosive Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act at the SSOC’s Amritsar police station on January 13.
“A tip-off was received that many criminal gangs in collusion with terror organisations have been committing anti-national activities with the help of their associates living in foreign countries. The members of these gangs have been generating virtual numbers by using various public domains on internet. They are using fake identities, besides getting help from their foreign-based associates to get such numbers,” reads the FIR, the copy of which is with HT.
It further says that using such virtual numbers, the gang members have been successfully dodging police and other security agencies while smuggling drugs, arms, ammunition and explosives from across the border. They are also committing targeted killings, extortion and contract killings in Punjab and other states with the help of weapons being smuggled from across the border, it said.
“The case has been registered to tighten the noose on these gang members, besides stopping the smuggling of drugs, arms and explosives from Pakistan. Our teams have been conducting raids to nab suspects involved in this nexus, whose names have come to the fore during the questioning of earlier arrested accused. In the coming days recovery of contrabands is also expected,” the above quoted SSOC official said.
A Punjab Police senior officer in Amritsar, while seeking anonymity, said they have already written to the government for taking efforts for banning such online applications which are being used by anti-social elements to dodge the tracking of police.
He said recently, they have found that in most of the cases, virtual numbers were used to get the location of the dropping points of Pakistani drones smuggling drugs, arms and ammunition.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP-investigation), Amritsar, Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said a few months ago, the police had sought suggestions to tackle the illegal use of virtual numbers by miscreants. “We had suggested that there should be a provision that doesn’t allow foreign contact numbers to run on WhatsApp in India. Similarly, many online communication applications work with one time password (OTP), which is sent to the mobile numbers. Instead of the mandatory OTP, the access to the application should be automatic through the SIM card inserted in the device. With the implementation of these two methods, we feel that 90% of the problem will be solved,” he said.
